Pages

Monday, September 30, 2013

Week 8: Follow promptings!

So, Elder Scheringer is being called
to be District Leader and Elder Cannon is leaving for Grand Forks North Dakota.
It will be sad to see him go.

So I've lost a lot of weight!!! I've
come up with the best weight loss program ever....

Live the Word of Wisdom and become a
missionary in the South Dakota Rapid City Mission. We walk everywhere to save
miles for Zone conferences because they are so far away. Pierre is about 200
miles round trip. We walk up hills and down hills and all around. I'd
estimate that we walk at least 5-7 miles depending on the day. It’s getting
much easier though, we can walk a mile in about 15 minutes including hills and
our backpacks. Also, exercising in the morning helps as well.

So I heard that conference priesthood
session was going to be broadcast into homes for the first time ever. That will
make it much easier, but doesn't change much here because you need a dish or
the internet to view conference anyway. It's not on the radio or TV... Another
culture shock for me :)

We committed Angelic to pray about 3
dates to be baptized and she seems like she really wants to. She is
progressing. We help a lot with their house, and I've compared their house remolding
to their spiritual progression because it is looking a lot better both ways.

So the wind is picking up. In lower
Brule on Wednesday, no one answered and our appointments fell through, but it
was because the wind speeds were 30-50 miles per hour all day long. It felt
like I was back home. It's really going to be uncomfortable in the winter
though because it’s so open, the wind has nothing to block it, and we are out
all day long instead of a few hours. But our limit is -20 with wind chill so no
big deal for me because that frequently happens in Idaho. How do you tell wind
chill? We have no idea.

On Thursday we helped brother Guest
put in his new door. None of us knew how to do so it was interesting, but
according to Brother Guest, "It's just common sense right?" He
reminds Elder Paskett and I of Tim Allen in Home Improvement because he
says," its easy honey. All you have to do is..." very complicated
explanation. He also uses whatever tools are lying around if he doesn't have
the right ones. Everything works out though. His uncle who does doors for a
living said it was the best job he'd ever seen and that it looked like a
professional had done it. I also found out what "green treated" wood meant.
Also got into a Book of Mormon bashing contest with our District Leader to help
us find scriptures and also for fun during our lunches.

One of our new investigators,
Laurel, answered us with "I'm going to pray about this because I feel the
importance of prayer." When we asked her about if she believed God could
appear to Joseph Smith, she said, "yes, but you have to be careful because
it could have been the other way too, Satan tricking him." We rejoiced at
this because it gave us the opportunity to testify of the importance of prayer
and not taking our word for it. It was great. She promptly committed to do so.

Sunday was interesting. We asked
President Anderson if we could go to another worship service. He said as long
as it didn't interfere with our other meetings. We did so today at the
Zion's Lutheran Church. It was very different and felt off. It was very hyped
up and showy. It felt like a show. It was also very scripted. I could follow
along in a program what the preacher was going to say, except the sermon, and
with the prayer. Afterwards when we went to our Church, I felt peaceful,
wanted, and like I belonged there. It really helped cement my testimony more.
It also taught me that the spirit works through the still small voice. It was
like a brick wall hit me so powerful, yet peaceful the difference was.

Follow promptings. They are very
important. The Guests left sacrament meeting because of their kids being loud.
Sister Felicia received a prompting to visit them after church. She did. The
Guests told us that if they hadn't visited them, they would have stopped trying
to come to church for 2 years. I am very grateful for promptings and am also
very grateful for the involvement of the ward. Get involved in missionary work
as much as possible. We need members to help us because we can't do the work
alone. I know that the Lord helps missionaries and members. They are not
exclusive. By helping the missionaries, you help your close friends. I have
seen this so many times so far and will continue to see it. I love it here and
am grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord.